Barclays sets to introduce new financial inclusion for women business owners

Barclays Bank Ghana, is set to roll out a bank proposition aimed at bringing more women SME owners into Ghana’s digital financial space.

According to the statement by the bank, it said:Women are a major part of the SME market and plays a vital role in the growth and development of small businesses both in the formal and informal sector of the economy, hence there is need to involve them in the nation’s drive to financial inclusion.

Commenting at the Bank’s 8th SME Clinic held at its Osu Branch in Accra last week, Head of SME Banking at Barclays Ghana Mrs. Audrey Abakah, said “We are working out a women’s proposition in line with the financial inclusion agenda of the country. We have a lot more women who are not in the financial system and this is of great concern to us given their contribution to the SME sector.”

Abakah noted that, “Attracting more women into our system will give us the opportunity to support them to realize their possibilities and grow their business.”

Consequently, the SME clinic was attended by over 60 clients who were taken through a series of sessions including Credit Sanctioning, Fraud Alerts, Forex Trading and Company succession plan among others.

Positively, the engaging clients were also updated on services such as Digital Banking, Mobile Money Collection Solution and Barclays Business Club which are designed to help them run efficient businesses and grow their portfolio.

The Business Banking Director at Barclays Ghana Mrs. Grace Elizabeth Anim-Yeboah seized the opportunity to restore participants on the bank’s transition to Absa, and the advantage the change presented to customers and all other stakeholders of the bank.

The Barclays SME Clinic is designed to help SME clients to benefit from the Bank’s tailor-made capacity building programme aimed at educating and supporting SMEs in running a sound and sustainable business. It also creates a platform for the clients to interact directly with officials of the bank.

Moreover, nearly 600 SMEs have benefitted from this year’s clinics.